With early polls approaching in Illinois, more than forty Muslim leaders in the state, representing Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab communities in Chicago, were invited to a meeting in the White House in Washington.
The leaders rejected the invitation and stated they were not ready to visit the White House due to the ongoing support for Israel from the Biden administration. They also called for the administration to change its policy and cease supplying Israel with military, economic, and diplomatic assistance.
In a joint letter to the White House on Thursday, the Muslim leaders wrote: "First, there is no point in more meetings. The White House already knows the position of the aforementioned groups and our allies across the nation. They know because we have made it abundantly clear, including in prior meetings with the White House, but also in press statements, letters to our elected leaders, media interviews, and enormous street action within earshot of the Oval Office. With a genocide that has flattened Gaza, forcibly displacing 85% of its residents, and claiming the lives of 31,000 people, 13,000 of whom are children, the White House has not only refused to call for a ceasefire but also enabled this blatant campaign of ethnic cleansing to take place by providing financial and military means, as well as diplomatic support at the United Nations. A meeting of the minds is nowhere in sight."
"Second, there is no confusion as to our consistent demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the mass murder of civilians and stave off the worst humanitarian crisis in modern times. We believe another meeting would only act to whitewash months of White House inaction followed by meek handouts. We are interested in serious action. Offering a belated trickle of aid, whether air drops or temporary piers, to captive Palestinian civilians who continue to be shot like fish in a barrel, but remaining unwilling or unable to cease the killing is like dishing out Band-Aids with one hand while wielding an axe with the other. Poll after poll shows that a clear majority of the American public supports a ceasefire, taking issue with the inaction of the White House and Congress. The people’s voices must be heard."
Among the signatories were American Muslims for Palestine, CAIR Chicago, and the Coalition for Justice in Palestine.
An anonymous source close to those organizations told Fox News that several of those refusing to attend had not been invited.
The boycott against the White House could potentially influence the voters in the early polls, where supporters of the Palestinians have called not to vote for Biden due to his support for Israel.